Around 100 Progressive law students met in a Harvard Law School’s Wasserstein classroom during Monday’s lunch block in light of the perceived excesses of the new Trump administration. Titled “I Hate the President’s Day” by organizers, the event was structured as a place to “build community”, vent about threats to marginalized identity groups, and a time to inform students about how to respond to an ascendant right-wing.
At the outset students were invited to provide their emails via google form to keep updated about potential campus activism opportunities throughout the semester. Alexia Roberts, HLS ‘25, president of Harvard Defenders, set the tone with a speech: “I feel all the things. I’m sad, I’m angry, I’m tired, I feel betrayed. But being in a space like this, with you all, is the reason I continued coming to this work because Community is our strength.”
As a grounding exercise, attendees were first asked three questions to discuss in small groups: “What brought you here today? What’s stressing you out? What’s making you angry?” One attendee, Mia Stone-Molloy, HLS ‘27, responded that she attended because the recent acts of the Trump administration were “designed to overwhelm our empathy with stories of suffering and make it feel like there are too many changes to fight.”
Event organizer and speaker Kayleigh Hasson, HLS ‘27, noted that many students felt “hopeless and powerless” in the wake of the election, and they hoped that the event would “create a space for people to be in community, hear more about what is going on and how it is affecting different communities, and learn how we can come together as law students to combat the hate and violence we’re seeing” from the federal government “here and around the world—specifically Palestine.”
Speakers covered a number of other topics as well, including “Threats to Civil Rights & Rising Anti-Blackness”, “Threats to Trans Lives and Safety”, and “Attacks on Immigration & Immigrant Rights”. Gabriella Achampong, HLS ‘27, an organizer and the speaker for the anti-Blackness portion of the event, noted that the event filled a void in HLS’ foundational curricula. “We should be grappling with what it looks like for lawyers to engage in change work, but many of us have not been privileged to have those conversations here.” said Achampong.
Throughout, special attention was drawn to the ongoing petition to call for a referendum on whether HLS students think the university should “divest from weapons, surveillance technology, and other companies aiding violations of international humanitarian law” including those involved with Israel’s ongoing operations in Palestine. Hasson noted that hours after the event they reached their goal of 300 signatures, and the organizers are continuing to galvanize support.
The effort comes in light of the recent row between student government and HLS administration over a proposed referendum on library bans for pro-Palestine protests in November of last year. Following the deactivation of the HLS student government email in response to allegations that the administration indefinitely delayed publication of the referendum, organizing around Palestine stalled into the winter break.
Alongside the focus on Gaza, there was an additional undercurrent of “radical love” that continued from presenter to presenter. “This lunch was a way for many of us to find community in a group of people who are seeing the dangers to this country as we see them” said Achampong. Tobi Omotoso, HLS ‘25, punctuated their address on the endangerment of queerfolk on this note, “we will continue to be defiantly who we are, individual in aesthetic and together in struggle, until the cages are empty and there is peace in the world and love reigns supreme.”
It appears that the event succeeded at energizing at least some progressive students. “I was so happy to see such a crowded room of students who care about making this a better place” remarked Hasson. “I think that it really reminded students that we do have power as law students, in both organizing and legal work, and we can put our energy towards that instead of feeling hopeless about everything going on.”
“I found the speakers incredibly inspiring, particularly the speaker on queer and trans rights. It reminded me that individual and societal healing are deeply interconnected.” remarked Stone-Molloy. “I have found that this school spends so much time isolating us, preventing us from speaking, and trying to scare us into submission. Monday’s event was a reset” said Roberts. “It was a reminder to each other and to this institute that we are here, we are united, and we are ready.”
Oluwatobi “Tobi” Omotoso, HLS ‘25, both participated as a speaker in the event, and in compilation of the research in this article due to staffing limitations. The Record expresses its sincere apology for the conflict, and invites the consumer to consider this information while reading the piece.